IE9 to let users block third-party tracking

[Renew Deal]

Microsoft has announced that the next version of Internet Explorer will include a feature called Tracking Protection, which enables users to block websites from collecting information about them.

"As consumers visit one site, many other sites receive information about their activities," says the post on the MSDN blog. "When the browser calls any other website to request anything (an image, a cookie, HTML, a script that can execute), the browser explicitly provides information in order to get information. By limiting data requests to these sites, it is possible to limit the data available to these sites for collection and tracking."

The end result? Users make information sharing an opt-in proposition. All they have to do is turn on the feature, then make a list of sites to block. Any site on that list will be prevented from tracking user data and from showing certain third-party content.
<snip>

http://www.infoworld.com/t/browsers/ie9-let-users-block-third-party-tracking-914

[alfredo]

1. Is it the same thing as Private Browsing on Safari or

Incognito Window in Google Chrome?

[EOTE]

4. I don't believe so.

I believe Private Browsing means that no cookies will be saved locally and your browsing history won't be saved for that session. This seems to prevent sites from tracking your online activity.

[alfredo]

6. So private browsing doesn't block info sharing while at the site,

only when the session ends.

[EOTE]

7. That's correct.

It won't prevent sites from using cookies to track your online habits.

[alfredo]

8. Couldn't you then change the cookie settings in preferences?

[EOTE]

9. You could disable them completely.

But then you'd lose a lot of the convenient things that cookies do, such as storing information you want to be stored as well as saving preference information for various websites.

[alfredo]

10. I don't get too paranoid about cookies. I rely on experience, a robust

Firewall, the WOT plug-in, and AV. I also don't go to sites I'd be embarrassed to show my wife.

[Renew Deal]

5. No. That's been available in IE since IE7.

[RKP5637]

2. Abine, a Firefox extension along with several others pretty much does that now if

one wants.

http://abine.com/wordpress/?p=622

[wtmusic]

3. From Microsoft - the Security Experts

:rofl:

Oh my. Sides ache.